New 2015 BMW M4 is perfectly suited for James Bond

The new BMW M4 is like a highly trained secret service agent who wears an expensive finely tailored suit. The new M4 shares a lot it common with Secret Intelligence Service agent 007 who looks like a perfect gentleman on the outside but underneath lies a trained killer who can snap your neck. Even the BMW M4 name fits the Secret Intelligence Service MI6. The BMW is powered by a finely-tuned M Inline 6 that will get your heart pumping. The new performance sports car would be a perfect fit for James Bond.

What’s new for 2015?

This week we got our hands on the new BMW M4 and found out Bond would love this German performance car. The 2015 BMW M4 is an M3 but comes with a different name. The performance car comes with reduced weight, added rigidity, a high-revving inline 6-cylinder engine and new Electro Mechanical Steering.

I received an email from my automotive contact Brooke, at AMS, asking me if I wanted to get the new 2015 M4 for a week. She said it had high-performance summer tires and that it could not be driven if there was any snow on the ground. Now, living in Colorado at 8500 feet elevation in December doesn’t make for a very good chance of that happening. But I said “how fast can you get it to me?!” The car arrived on a cold morning, but the sun was out and there was no snow in the forecast for the next week. I was in luck and we didn’t have any measurable snow during my week with the new M4.

M4 Coupe’s options

This Austin Yellow Metallic 2015 M4 tester ($64,200) came with quite a few options that raised the price significantly. My new M4 Coupe came with the Executive Package ($4,000) that added some very nice features like heated steering wheel, keyless entry, rear view camera, headlight washers, Park Distance Control, head up display and satellite radio. It also came with the Lighting Package ($1,900) that featured adaptive full LED lights and automatic high beams. It came with some optional high-performance upgrades like M Double-clutch transmission ($2,900), M Carbon ceramic brakes ($8,150), Adaptive M suspension ($1,000) and 19-inch Black wheels and 437 M Mix tires ($1,200). The total cost with the Harmon Kardon surround sound ($875) and destination was $86,200.

M4 exterior styling

The new M4 is clearly recognizable as the M3 successor and sits low with a bold and aggressive stance. The optional 19-inch Black wheels and 437 M Mix tires add a nice visual appeal as they completely fill out the wheel wells and give it a unique look. We can’t say we were thrilled with the Austin Yellow Metallic exterior paint color, but would prefer either Black or Red in the M4 Coupe. It definitely stood out this week and we received many comments, like “what color is that?”

The most significant visual changes can be seen around the front bumper, which receives three large ducts that serve for more efficient air channeling. The front fenders are more heavily flared and adopt a vent to extract hot air from the engine compartment. At the back, the rear receives widened fenders to accommodate rear wheels that are wider than those of predecessor models. And the rear bumper gets integrated vents that extracts hot air from the rear differential, and BMW M division's signature quad-tailpipe completes the M4’s high-performance exterior.

Inside the M4 cockpit

As we entered the new M4 cabin, everything in the cockpit shouts performance. The M seats have been redesigned and a new shell shape holds you in place like a custom-made pilots seat. All the controls are driver oriented and the optional head-up-display with M-specific information ensured the data was always in my line of sight. The M leather steering wheel is thicker and offers more padding, and it was my only complaint I had with the cabin and felt it was practically too thick to handle. But the steering wheel paddle shifters were especially effective for handling the optional M double-clutch transmission. The instrument panel in the M design underscores the vehicle’s sportiness and interior materials match the quality expected from BMW.

Because of the Coupe’s low roofline, rearward visibility is somewhat limited but head and legroom is good for a sports coupe. The rear seat offers reasonable space for adults on occasional short trips, but won’t be comfortable for longer trips. Overall, the cabin is a very comfortable place to spend time driving on the street and keeping the driver focused on the track.

M4 is an assassin in a finely tailored suit

The week with the M4 was like spending time with a sports car with two very different personalities. This is where the sports coupe would fit James Bond like a finely tailored suit. The M4 is a high-performance sports car that is just as comfortable driving you and a beautiful girl to a high-class State dinner with VIP dignitaries, as it is doing exceptional high-speed maneuvers on the Nurburgring race track. The M4 is a comfortable daily driver during the week that you can also take and drive hard on the weekends. The M4 employs race-car technologies and concepts into a daily driver.

We didn’t get a chance to take the M4 out to the track, but we took the sports coupe up a windy stretch of mountain road that showed just how well-balanced this performance car really is. Just outside of Denver, there is a road that leads up the mountain to the town of Evergreen. We had dry roads and were able to push the M4 hard through the 5 miles of tight corners on the secluded mountain road. Once you get past the police in Morrison, we had a good opportunity to test the M4’s performance limits.

The optional Adaptive M suspension offers three modes for relaxed driving, more aggressive street and track settings. The M4’s three driving modes worked as advertised and we used the efficiency setting (Comfort) for driving in the city. The M4 was a perfect gentlemen driving in the urban traffic and was a pleasant daily commuter. We switched to Sport mode and pushed the sports coupe hard up I-70 at altitude and the 3.0-liter M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine came alive and propelled us back in the seat. The 3.0-liter inline six produces a healthy 431 hp with 405 lb. ft of torque. The Bi-Turbo responded quickly to the slightest nudge of the accelerator with enthusiastic boost and excellent torque.

We switched to Sport + mode which dialed up the steering effort as we powered up the mountain canyon road. The M4 took the tight turns and made easy effort of the tight S-curves. The M Double-clutch transmission with the paddle shifters was lightning quick and the M suspension kept us flat with very little body roll around the corners. The expensive M Carbon ceramic brakes worked beautifully and are must have if you plan on taking the M4 to the track. The new coupe gets a new electric-assist steering and worked without issue during the more spirited driving during the week.

Technical highlights

The new 3.0-liter inline TwinPower Turbo six delivers 11 hp and 110 lb. ft of torque more than the naturally aspirated 4.0-liter V8 direct-injection powerplant from the outgoing model. And BMW lowered the weight on the new M4 by using various carbon fiber, aluminum and magnesium components in the new performance car. This also has improved the power-to-weight ratio of the car by 22 hp per ton over its predecessor.

The new M4 sees "rotating weight" reduction in the new one-piece carbon fiber driveshaft, crankshaft, pistons, wheels and flywheel. On the outside, the performance car's weight is reduced in the front for better weight distribution. It gets a new aluminum hood, aluminum front fenders and electromechanical power steering system (EPS). The new EPS is all-new and is a completely new design with a new housing, rack and pinion, motor and recirculating ball system. It was specifically tuned for the new M4 and BMW spent hours developing it to get the right feedback and steering response.

Conclusion:

James Bond would feel perfectly at home in the new 2015 BMW M4 and the performance car would be no match for his competition. The original philosophy of the M3 was to provide a good daily driver that owners could also take to the track. BMW M division developed the engine, brakes, cooling system and suspension to provide a very emotional enjoyable driver. The original M3 employed race-car technologies and concepts into a daily driving sports car. And that’s still the M3/M4 philosophy today we see in the newly re-designed 2015 BMW M4 performance car. The new M4 is an assassin in a finely tailored suit.